Linux Kernel 2.6.4 Released
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
and it works fine, haven`t tried the e100 driver yet, had some problems with it and 2.6.3 eth0 running, sending packages etc, but did not get an ip, and yes EVERYTHING that I needed was in the kernel
[PATCH] security oops fix
Looking at d_splice_alias, it appears that the security_d_instantiate call in the first case (where it ends up moving an entry in place of the given dentry) should be passing ‘new’ rather than ‘dentry’ to ensure that the passed dentry is associated with the inode. This patch should fix the problem.
The 2.6.x series seems to be continuously plagued with security problems. Three separate remote root “mremap” vulnerabilities, and now this. It seems like security issues are what causees these releases. Security problem – have to release a new version.
While some of these bugs go back as far as the 2.2 series, I have to wonder if they are being missed because of Linus Torvaldaszes’ allowing more and more developers to contribute to the kernel, some who do not even have degrees in Computer Science. I hope that he will reign in his metaphorical programming leash, and crack the metaphorical programming whip over these junior developers to get them to focus on these security issues for future relases.
Just a question, why do you have to have a CS degree to write good software?
There haven’t been *remote* exploitable bugs in Linux lately, let alone three separate ones. Since you say yourself the *local* exploitable memory management bugs have been there since the v2.2 linux kernel your whole dig at non-CS coders goes poof.
Oh and kernel oopses are not exploitable, not even when they happen if certain security features of a filesystem are used.
Great, just compiled 2.6.3 a few days ago.
Keeps me busy
cuase he missed the part about experiance being the same as a degree in the “real” world..
That “security bug” is not a security hole. It is a bug in the security policy code. Big difference.
Do you just troll the changelogs for the word security? Must have a pretty sad life.
Does Torvalds or Andrew Morton have CS degrees?
I don’t if they have gotten any recently but that isn’t their background according to my knowledge.
I have one, big deal.
So does Linux.
I think Andrew still in school in Florida.
I think you’re mistaking Andrew Morton for Robert Love. The latter is still in school in Florida.
@Anon,
Actually sir you have it more or less backwards. If you take the time to read the changelog AND read some of the exchanges going on between the main kernel hackers…MM, AA, Linus ect you would see that they are still fine tuning memory management systems in the kernel. The new releases are all very much release driven. You should see the changelog… the one for 2.6.4 is like 158 pages long…. WOW comes to mind… mind boggling the work those guys do!
Hi,
I had problems with eth0 loading on 2.6.3. It would just hang their. Had e1000 in the kernel as well.
Is this fixed in this new release?
Regards
Robert
>I have to wonder if they are being missed because of Linus >Torvaldaszes’ allowing more and more developers to contribute >to the kernel, some who do not even have degrees in Computer >Science.
If you think that, then you obviously don’t have a CS degree yourself, or you’d know very well then it is not necessary to have one in order to write software, at any level of a system.
Everything you learn at a CS degree can be learned off the shelf at your local library.. from binary, to OS concept and design.. the only thing a degree gives you a good library can’t is a bit of cardboard that says “This guy meets our standards of learning”, and that bit of cardboard costs you $25000 (in my country roughly anyway)
“It seems like security issues are what causees these releases. Security problem – have to release a new version.”
If you look at the diffs you’ll see that the security fixes make less then 1% of the changes. Thus there are manny other reasons to release too.
Certainly, a motivated developer without a formal education can learn and understand as much or more than someone who drifted through a CS course, or you can have it both ways: in the UK (and presumably other places), the Open University provides *genuine* degrees for people who follow a course based mostly on individually-driven study, and my impression is that you really do have to be motivated to get the certificate at the end.
But one thing which a formal CS education is likely to encourage is an understanding of fundamental concepts and good practices, reducing the likelihood that a developer thinks he/she is onto something radical when it has been done 1000 times before and is in fact mentioned in the first year course notes. On the other hand, software engineering really does seem to be an area where there isn’t a substitute for real-world experience.
I’d imagine that any difficulties with security auditing in the Linux kernel are more likely to be software engineering issues.
Right, Andrew is the aussie with a EE degree.
Alot programmers have degrees in other majors. When I was working for a software company, almost half of our team consists of physics, math, EE and philosophy majors.
Well I got alot of friends with CS degrees and still they go running after me each and everytime something bad has happened and they need some help to fix things. I haven’t got a CS degree and still I know 20-30 times more than they do. A CS Degree and degrees in general doesn’t tell you anything, what it do tell is that you have the ability to learn information adequately to pass a test, they don’t check if you know everything you’ve learned the last day do they? I can learn everything I need to pass a test and then 3 weeks later after the test I don’t remember anything since I wasn’t interested in the subject. A couple of my friends choose CS just because of the big IT boom. “- hey they earn loads of money and fast!” that was why they choose CS. If they have had the passion for computers and everything around it they would probably be a bit more closer to my level of knowledge, but they’re not…
knowledge is power, but you need passion to get knowledge to stay forever.
just my 5c.
/S
Does Torvalds or Andrew Morton have CS degrees?
Linus graduated from University of Helsinki CS department with MSc in 1997. I know for sure, as I studied in the same department at the time. See: http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/linux/
“Just a question, why do you have to have a CS degree to write good software?”
Having a CS degree doesn’t hurt. But generally I don’t think it help you much in designing secure software. For doing that a small amount of paranoia is much more useful.
Currently I’m a student and will if everything goes as planned get a CS degree before summer this year. I have written software for about 20 years, the only reason I went back to University was that I needed a degree to show PHBs for getting better jobs. Being at the end of a SC education, I would say that there is no difference in my abilities to write good software now and before. The main difference is probably that I’m better at explaining why it is good.
But then of course most of the books I was supposed to study in these years was allready on my book shelf in a very well read condition before I started my studies. And not only them but a lot of other ones some more advanced than those used at my university.
So, no you don’t need a degree to write good software, you need knowledge, experience and perhaps a little bit of paranoia and all that doesn’t automatically come with a degree.
A CS Degree and degrees in general doesn’t tell you anything, what it do tell is that you have the ability to learn information adequately to pass a test
Yet they’ll still be considered for jobs way way before someone without a degree. Reality check, you may have the skills but you need to actually get employed first for them to see those skills.
A lot of those people that got into CS for the money are graduating now, but don’t worry since it’s pretty obvious who they are. Out of interest, do you have a job in the industry? I wonder how far passion alone can get you in this day and age.
“Well I got alot of friends with CS degrees and still they go running after me each and everytime something bad has happened …”
Your experience is far more important than a CS degree.
The degree is good for getting you your first job. But to be productive, you need knowledge AND experience. There are other ways to get knowledge than go to university. But, on the other hand if you have the knowledge, it is quite easy to get a degree. You obviously allready have a job, but perhaps you can use the diploma to impress your parents or your girlfriend.
use the diploma to impress your parents or your girlfriend.
Laminated, they make great placemats 🙂
besides somework on intel e100 nics, lots of ohci/ehci patches, and some cleanups on ipv6 stack what are the other main achievments of this release?
what is the main perception among production envs for a minor stable release version? 2.6.10?
congrats osdl and all others contribs
“Yet they’ll still be considered for jobs way way before someone without a degree. Reality check, you may have the skills but you need to actually get employed first for them to see those skills.
A lot of those people that got into CS for the money are graduating now, but don’t worry since it’s pretty obvious who they are. Out of interest, do you have a job in the industry? I wonder how far passion alone can get you in this day and age.”
It can actually get you pretty far. I have no degrees and am self-taught. I am a system admin, but you are right that unfortunately they look for paper first, not knowledge. Finding a job without is not easy. Is a shame really since with the paper and no experience, I find the first thing I need to do when we get somone fresh out of college or fresh with an MCSE is teach them how to install an OS and the basic rules of administration. All the paper means is you had the means to get it (money), and had a few years to waste.
looks like its fixed. search the change log.
My experience regarding CS degrees can be boiled down to a very simple formula.
Most students have *lots* of time. I had been one, so this is neither hearsay nor envy. If someone, at that time of his/her vita, spends his/her time mainly on CS / programming matters, he/she will be a good programmer. Studying *CS* can help, but is by no means a requirement. (The best two programmers I know have a degree in maths, not CS.)
I have studied Biology and Sports for ~3 years. My hobby at that time have been computers. The vast majority of the knowledge that earns my salary today was accumulated at that time – not during the 18 months certification training, or the ~3 years business experience afterwards. You don’t *learn* much when you have a real-life problem to solve – you learn when you have the time and motivation to play around.
I spend 8+ hours a day at the office. But I still *learn* much more in the 1-2 hours I spend on my own projects.
It’s not the CS diploma, or even the years of experience “in the industry”. It’s how much time you have spent really toying around with the technology, learning new stuff, or learning how the old stuff works inside out.
Sadly enough, those “human ressource managers” don’t get it…
My experience regarding CS degrees can be boiled down to a very simple formula.
Most students have *lots* of time. I had been one, so this is neither hearsay nor envy. If someone, at that time of his/her vita, spends his/her time mainly on CS / programming matters, he/she will be a good programmer. Studying *CS* can help, but is by no means a requirement. (The best two programmers I know have a degree in maths, not CS.)
I have studied Biology and Sports for ~3 years. My hobby at that time have been computers. The vast majority of the knowledge that earns my salary today was accumulated at that time – not during the 18 months certification training, or the ~3 years business experience afterwards. You don’t *learn* much when you have a real-life problem to solve – you learn when you have the time and motivation to play around.
I spend 8+ hours a day at the office. But I still *learn* much more in the 1-2 hours I spend on my own projects.
It’s not the CS diploma, or even the years of experience “in the industry”. It’s how much time you have spent really toying around with the technology, learning new stuff, or learning how the old stuff works inside out.
Sadly enough, those “human ressource managers” don’t get it…
…but with all that talk about experience, I still double-click “submit” occassionally… 😀
To be honest, I’m in my final year of my CS degree now and about 60% of the people there know very litle about *computing* (i.e. they sit using instat messengers all day). But the other 40% you will find are properly trained software engineers, the problem before (like the 70s and 80s) was that despite having the required skills they couldn’t create an efficient team.
The past is littered with examples of bad practice where projects go massively over budget and delayed. That’s why the industry likes people to have degrees. Sure, a degree doesn’t mean your better then someone without a degree, but the chances are you’ve been taught in an environment where good practices are encouraged and you understand software engineering principals. You could say it’s more “project mangement” then “computing” if you will.
Though this will probably only apply to people who haven’t already worked in the industry. Like someone else said, if you want to learn to program you can go buy a book and learn it, though applying those skills in a team is another issue.
> if you want to learn to program you can go buy a book
> and learn it, though applying those skills in a team
> is another issue.
…which you don’t learn at a university either.
I consider “computer skill” to be something that’s 30% a gift no training can ever give you, 20% enthusiasm, and 20% opportunity (read, that fateful moment in your youth when you make first contact with the World Inside The Crystal…).
The knowledge written in books, the skills taught in teamwork, the business experience that tells you how it all works out… all this constitutes the remaining 30%.
“…why do you have to have a CS degree to write good software?”
Being the liberal arts advocate that I am, a CS degree has many benefits that a real-life degree can’t replace. In a liberal arts setting as a CS major, you not only learn about the fundamentals of programming, but you learn about the computers themselves. You are also challenged to learn and to think critically across multiple disciplines. A liberal arts degree cannot be replaced by real-life experience, although the two are excellent companions.
Now to answer your question, you don’t need a CS degree to write good software, but you do need a CS degree to appreciate much of what life has to offer. Don’t disregard a good education because there appears to be a rational alternative; you will be missing a large part of the “good life.”
(Scott — Sophomore; CS major working on a BA; member of ACM; honors; 30 years old because he thought he could replace good education with real-life and discovered it not to be true for him; writes software well enough for his peers and professors.)
I am also a sophomore in CS, you don’t need a degree to appreciate life. You learn a lot in college, but in the end the learning is done of your own accord and could be done without the assistance of professors and TA’s. However, college provides a great education in some things like: People have serious mental issues and rarely do things correctly.
Seriously man, you don’t need a degree to write instructions. Formal education is no better than informal, I would argue it’s inferior and I think most businesses would agree that good experience is greater than a good education.
That is so true. Our CS department chair is apparently an expert on comets and black holes. He had to learn programming during his courses because of the physics end of his studies. In other words, programming for many of today’s professionals is a small tool in the vastness of their actual research.
I have another friend who works at White Sands. He is a mathematician, and he went back to learn FORTRAN when he started his internship, because that is what they were to use for their research models.
“…you don’t need a degree to appreciate life.”
That is where you and I disagree.
“…you don’t need a degree to write instructions.”
That is where we agree.
“…Formal education is no better than informal, I would argue it’s inferior and I think most businesses would agree that good experience is greater than a good education.”
That is where you are unintentionally misleading the readers. A liberal arts education is not an emphasis on your discipline, but rather on your methods of critical thinking. That is after all the core purpose of a liberal arts education–to hone the skills of critical thinkers. By the guidance of professors you in no way become inferior by status; if anything, you become much more informed and aware.
I’ve known guys with CS degrees who didn’t know the difference between their power supply and their cpu. True, CS doesn’t require hardware knowledge, but I think if you’re ever going to be doing any real coding you should atleast have some understanding as to what’s going on inside that blinking box beside you.
As for degrees and jobs — I find it depends on what type of employment you’re trying to acquire. Of course big corporate guys are going to look at the paper, but there are a number of smaller companies that are more interested in experience and capabilities.
I’ve found that degrees don’t mean as much as they used to — because it seems any idiot can get a degree these days.
Hi
In case you forgot what the topic was. it supposed to be announcement on a kernel maintainance release, not a socio politicial discussion on the effectiveness of a degree :0)
regards
Jess
I am over 30, had went to university but stopped shy of a degree, and have worked in the real world for many years. I was programming embedded controllers and patching corprit accounting software before I graduated high-school. I have built systems, designed large networks, and extended RT-OSes. Still when it was time to ‘downsize’ a team I, without a degree, am the first on the list. (and no really I AM a nice person)
The point is for a good stable career you need a degree, any degree! It should be somehow applicable to the job, preferably in that field. After all that you also must be good at it. Which often has little to do with the activities required to get the degree in the first place.
That said, I am going back and earning a traditional CS degree, with all the English, Psych, Litt,… that must be done too.
I’m currently running the 2.6.3 kernel and I don’t know how to patch it to 2.6.4…
‘”…you don’t need a degree to appreciate life.”
That is where you and I disagree. ‘
Oh, and why is that? Particularly considering how many college graduates are either out of work, or wearing a blue vest at Walmart.
“A liberal arts education is not an emphasis on your discipline, but rather on your methods of critical thinking.”
Yes, but one doesn’t need a college education to learn critical thinking. Anyone can study philosophy without a college professor assigning chapters in a book. And, of course, critical thinking doesn’t become important unless it’s applied in a useful manner.
Just tried 2.6.4, but I had a freaky problem: My clock seems to run about two times faster. (not cpu freq :-P, but the real time clock) Looking at the clock on my desktop it seems like seconds are flowing by faster. Double clicking is harder too (obviously). Never had this happening. The config is almost exacly the same I used for other 2.6 kernels. Anyone noticed something similar?
I’m in the process of a make oldconfig from 2.6.3 to 2.6.4 and there’s an interesting new option: REGPARM
Help says that it compiles the kernel with GCC’s -mregparm=3 option. Apparently it requires >= GCC 3.0 and will break binary modules. Anyone tried this? Is it faster? Any problems?
The main advantage of taking a degree course is that you meet and compete with other students interested in the same things as you. If you are lucky, you will be in a “good year” where there is a bunch of talented students who drive each other forward.
Prob. fixed: Apparently my hardware doesn’t like the new “Power Management Timer Support (X86_PM_TIMER)” option.
Everything works fine now.
A CS degree means nothing in the real world. Experience is what matters. I know people who hold CS degrees and they are out of work and I also know a few people who either do not have degrees at all or have degrees in entirely different and unrelated fields who have tech jobs. The difference between them is all experience.
You definitely do not need a degree to appreciate life either. That’s just silly. Maybe YOU do but it’s not a prerequisite to appreciate life. I’ve learned more and appreciated more outside of college then when I was there.
what do you get from _real_ CS programs? math and more math… problem solving skills and yes, critical thinking development, you can’t get those from the man pages and the e-books you downloaded from torrent sites.
Hi, I am unable to modprobe agpgart on my 2.6.4 linux kernel.
any ideas?
I get this :-
FATAL: Error inserting agpgart (/lib/modules/2.6.4/kernel/drivers/char/agp/agpgart.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
I need to load this module (in boot.local) in order to get the ati drivers to work correctly.
is their a simple fix?
regards
robert
Hello Robert,
Try reinstalling your ATI drivers for the new kernel version. Your previous installation of the ATI drivers placed the required files in your old kernel tree (/lib/modules/2.6.PREV-VERSION) and thus not found in the new one. A simple reinstall will do the trick, however.
Also, make sure that both the modules and the kernel are compiled with the same version of GCC.